 Ethics: Doing the Right Thing
 Chapter 3
 The Ethical Imperative
 Areas of Ethical Concern
 Relationship of society and science
 Professional issues
 Treatment of research participants
 Weigh risks – psychological and physical
 Weigh benefits to individual and society
 Educational benefits, new skill or treatment for psychological or medical condition
 Material benefits
 Personal satisfaction
 The Ethical Imperative
Researchers have a strong moral and professional obligation to act ethically at all times and in all
situations
 Scientific Misconduct
 Scientific misconduct = violating basic and generally accepted standards of honest
scientific research, such as research fraud and plagiarism.
 The Ethical Imperative
 Scientific Misconduct
 Research fraud = to invent, falsify or distort study data or to lie about how a study was
conducted.
 Plagiarism = using another person’s words or ideas without giving them proper credit
and instead passing them off as your own.
 Unethical but Legal
 The Ethical Imperative
 Unethical but Legal
Typology Of Legal And Ethical Actions In Research
 Ethical Issues Involving Research Participants
 The Belmont Report (1979) Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human
Subjects of Research
 Beneficence
 Autonomy (respect for persons)
 Justice
 The Origin of Ethical Principles with Humans
 Protect Research Participants from Harm
 Avoid Harm To Research Participants
 Physical harm
 Psychological abuse, stress, or loss of self-esteem
 Legal harm
 Loss of privacy and confidentiality
 Ethical Issues Involving Research Participants
 Participation Must be Voluntary and Informed
 Principle of Voluntary Consent = never force anyone to participate in a research study.
Participants should explicitly and voluntarily agree to participate.
 Informed Consent = An agreement in which participants state they are willing to be in a
study and they know what the research procedure will involve.
 Informed Consent Form (look at manual also)
 Ethical Issues Involving Research Participants
 Privacy, Anonymity, and Confidentiality
 Privacy has two components:
 Anonymity = not connecting a participant’s name or identifying details to
information collected about him or her.
 Confidentiality = holding information in confidence or not making it known to
the public.
 Ethical Issues Involving Research Participants
 Ethical Issues Involving Research Participants
 Extra Protections for Special Populations
 Special populations = people lacking the cognitive competency or full freedom to give
true informed consent.
 Formal Protections for Research Participants
 Institutional Review Board (IRB) = a committee of researchers and community members
that oversees, monitors, and reviews the impact of research procedures on human
participants.
 Code of Ethics = A written, formal set of professional standards that provides guidance
when ethical questions arise in practice.
 Institutional Review Board
 Each institution that receives federal funds must have an IRB
 Responsible for reviewing research at the institution
 Must have at least 5 members
 One member must be from outside the institution
 All research conducted by students, faculty and staff must be reviewed
 Types of Research and the IRB
 Exempt Research (no review needed)
 Research in which there is no risk of harm
 Minimal Risk Research
 When the risk of harm is no greater that risk encountered in daily life or routine physical
or psychological tests
 Routine review conducted by the IRB
 Greater Than Minimal Risk Research
 Thorough review conducted by the IRB
 Institutional Review Board
 IRB Impact on Research
 Extended time for approval of study
 Submissions often need to be revised or clarified
 Very cautious around approval
 Ethical Issues Involving Research Participants
 Limits to Using Deception in Research
 Deception is Acceptable Only Within Strict Limits
 it has a clear, specific methodological purpose
 use it only to the minimal degree necessary and for shortest time;
 obtain informed consent and do not misrepresent any risks;
 always debrief.
 Avoid coercion.
 Importance of Debriefing
(look at manual also)
 Debriefing
 Occurs after completion of the study
 Opportunity for the researcher to deal with issues of withholding information,
deception, and potential harmful effects of participation
 Explains why deception was necessary
 Provides additional resources, if necessary
 Makes sure participant leaves the experiment without any ill feelings towards the field
of psychology
 Importance of Debriefing (Cozby, 2007)
 Positive aspects of debriefing:
 Provides an opportunity to explain the purpose of the study and anticipated results
 Most participants report positive experience
 Research suggests that it is effective
 Alternatives to Deception (Cozby, 2007)
 Role-Playing
 Asks participants how they would respond to a certain situation or to predict how
others would respond
 Not considered a satisfactory alternative to deception
 Simulation Studies
 Variation on role-playing that involves simulation of a real- world situation
 Has a high degree of involvement from participants
 Honest Experiments
 Participants are made aware of the purpose of the research (e.g., speed dating studies;
study skills improvement program)
 Researcher Commitments
 Implied Contract with Participants
 Punctuality
 Summary of details to participant
 Course credit
 Details that maintain trust between participants and researchers
 Ethics and the Sponsors of Research
 Arriving at Particular Findings
 Limits on How to Conduct Studies
 Suppressing Findings
 Whistle-blowing = when a researcher sees unethical behavior and after unsuccessful
attempts to get superiors to end it, goes public to expose the wrongdoing.
 Political Influences on Research
 Political concerns can influence and interfere with the research process.
 Value-Free and Objective Research
 Multiple Meanings
 Value free has two meanings:
1) research without any prior assumptions or theory,
2) research free of influence from an individual researcher’s personal
prejudices/beliefs.
 Objective has two meanings as well:
1) focus only on what is external or visible,
2) follow clear and publicly accepted research procedures and not haphazard,
invented personal ones.
 Value-Free and Objective Research
 Alternative Goals
 Devoid of Values
 APA Ethics Code (Cozby, 2007)
 5 General Principles
 Beneficence
 Responsibility
 Integrity
 Justice
 Respect for the rights and dignity of others
 APA Ethics Code (Cozby, 2007)
 10 Ethical Standards Address Specific Issues Concerning:
 Conduct of psychologists in
 Teaching
 Research
 Therapy
 Counseling
 Testing
 Other professional roles and responsibilities
 APA Ethics Code: Research with Human Participants
 8.01 Institutional Approval
 8.02 Informed Consent to Research
 8.03 Informed Consent for Recording Voices and Images in Research
 8.04 Client/Patient, Student, and Subordinate Research Participants
 8.05 Dispensing with Informed Consent for Research
 8.06 Offering Inducements for Research Participation
 8.07 Deception in Research
 8.08 Debriefing
 APA Ethics Code: Animal Research
 8.09 Humane Care and Use of Animals in
Research
 APA has developed a more detailed
Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in the Care and Use of
Animals (American Psychological Association, 2002b)
 APA Ethics Code: Misrepresentation
 8.10 Reporting Research Results
 8.11 Plagiarism (Cozby, 2007)
 Milgram’s Obedience Experiment
 Study of the phenomenon of obedience to an authority figure
 Examined the effects of punishment on learning (shock treatment for mistakes)
 Results challenged beliefs about our ability to resist authority
 Important for understanding obedience in real life situations such as the Holocaust
(cozby 2007)